This invention relates generally to container handling systems and more specifically to a system that feeds stacks of containers from a carton or box into a mechanism that performs further operations on the containers, such as printing or filling them, and then accepts the completed containers for boxing them in a semi-automatic operation. Prior art container handling systems have either been completely manual or they have been fully automatic. In the manual systems, it is necessary to manually remove and feed previously-boxed empty containers in preparation for a secondary operation involving those containers and to then manually rebox the containers following completion of the secondary operation. This manual unboxing, feeding, and reboxing of containers is labor intensive and adds significantly to the cost of performing a secondary operation on boxes of stacked empty containers. The fully automatic systems, typically involving a pick and place robot, are expensive, difficult to adapt to different container and box sizes, and do not easily accommodate plastic box liners that serve to protect the containers from contamination.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide a system having an input section for unboxing and handling empty stacked containers on which a desire secondary operation, such as label printing or filling, is to be performed.
It is a further principal object of the present invention to provide a system having an output section for handling and boxing empty stacked containers received from their initial manufacturing process or from a subsequent label printing process, for example.
These and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention by providing an input conveyor onto which a box, containing a multiplicity of empty stacked containers arranged in a matrix of rows and columns of vertical stacks, is either manually or automatically placed in upside down position. After lifting the box to expose the matrix of vertical stackes of containers, the matrix of vertical stacks of containers is moved by the input conveyor to a lay-down table that hingedly moves from an upright position at which one row at a time of the vertical stacks of containers is received to a horizontal position from which the row of stacks of containers that is now horizontal is pushed onto another conveyor for transporting stacks of containers to a desired location. An output accumulation conveyor moves a desired number of horizontal stacks of containers onto a lift table that has a hinged bed for lifting the stacks of containers positioned thereon into a vertical position to be received as a row of stacks of containers by an output conveyor that moves forward incrementally each time a new row of stacks of containers is received until a desired group or matrix of rows and columns of stacks of containers has been collected on the output conveyor. At that point, a box is placed upside down over the group of stacked containers, and the box is then conveyed to a box turner that turns the box 180 degrees to the upright position and then deposits the upright box of stacked containers onto a roller or other conveyor.
The stacked container handling system of the present invention is advantageous in that it a) permits the use of boxes with or without plastic liners; b) accommodates containers of different size; c) permits an operator to visually inspect the stacks of containers before they are boxed; and d) permits the use of individual bags on selected ones of the stacks of containers.